February New Listings Surged 12 Percent, But Overall Inventory Still Falling - Redfin Real Estate News

February New Listings Surged 12 Percent, But Overall Inventory Still Falling

by
Updated on October 6th, 2020
National housing market tracker
Market Summary February 2016 Month-Over-Month Year-Over-Year
Median sale price $251,700 -1.2% 4.8%
Homes sold 127,600 4.6% 4.8%
New listings 220,700 10.8% 11.9%
All Homes for sale 518,100 4.1% -3.7%
Median days on market 47 1 -6
Months of supply 4.2 0 -0.3
Sold above list 17.7% 1.2% 1.1%
Average Sale-to-list 91.0% -0.1% -0.1%

New home listings grew at the fastest rate since 2013 in February, surging 11.9 percent from last year. Overall inventory fell 3.7 percent year over year, a slower decline than in recent months but a disappointing number for homebuyers hoping for more homes to choose from as the spring selling season approaches.
Still, a big increase in new listings is a positive sign for the health of the housing market.  Year over year, sales have increased nationally for 15 consecutive months now, and were up 4.8 percent in February, a lower rate than in December and January. In February, we also saw the Redfin home tour index exceed the record-high level reached in January, while the number of offers made increased by 15.9 percent since last year. Growth in the number of people touring homes has consistently outpaced growth in offers, a sign that lower inventory has constrained growth in home sales.
“New listings rebounded in a big way after getting off to a weak start at the beginning of the year,” said Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson.“There were enough new listings in February to cut the inventory deficit in half. More listings also had a side benefit of curbing the strong acceleration in prices we saw the last two months. Whew, finally a little breathing room for buyers just in time for the start of the spring buying season.”

New Home Listings national feb
All Active Home Inventory national feb

The median sale price grew 4.8 percent to $251,727, a smaller increase than the 6.3 percent average over the past year.

National Median Sale Price feb

The market remained slightly more competitive for homebuyers than it was a year earlier. A typical home spent 47 days on the market, down from 52 a year earlier, and 17.7 percent sold above asking price, compared with 16.7 in February 2015. There were 4.2 months of supply, down from 4.5 last year, with six months representing a market balanced between buyers and sellers.  
If big increases in new listings continue into the spring, there is hope that the market will become a little more balanced in buyers’ favor this year. But from the data we’ve seen in 2016, it seems that the inventory shortages, characteristic of expensive Western regions with robust job growth, have now spread inland to metro areas that pair strong local economies with more affordably priced homes like Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Louisville, Minneapolis and Nashville.
“The economy is now prosperous enough that people are starting to make moves, but there are three common issues holding back some of the inventory this year,” said Redfin agent Rebecca Walter in Portland, where the number of homes for sale fell 37.4 percent from last year in February. “First, there’s a wave of landlords considering selling soon, but they’re carefully weighing whether to give up their steady rental income in exchange for a high sale price. For those who decide to sell, listing a home when you have a tenant can be tricky to navigate and takes extra time. And finally, I’ve had several prospective sellers review homes comparable in value to theirs, only to realize they can’t actually afford the  home they’d want to move to and decide to stay put and keep gaining equity on their current home. I still see a steady pipeline of homes making their way onto the market, and expect inventory to pick up this year.”  

Other February Highlights

Prices

  • The rust belt saw some of the highest price growth in the county, with the median sale price in Akron, OH growing 17.1% to $115,000, Cleveland up 16.7% to $105,000, Detroit up 14% to $114,000, and Grand Rapids up 12.9% to $140,000 over last year.  
  • Tampa, FL had the biggest change in median sale price, up 17.2% to $170,000.
  • DC area prices declined by 2.2% compared to last year, with both single-family residences and condos/multifamily units seeing lower median sale prices.

Sales

  • Providence, RI had the biggest year-over-year increase in home sales, up 28.2%, followed by Buffalo, NY up 27.3%.
  • Sales fell sharply in San Jose and San Francisco, decreasing by 32.3% and 23.5% respectively. Miami (-10.7%) and West Palm Beach, FL (-14.7%) were the only other two metro regions with a double-digit percentage point drop in home sales.

Competition

  • San Francisco (105.9%), San Jose (103.1%), Oakland (102.9%) and Seattle (100.2%) had the highest sale-to-list price percentages, with Seattle seeing the biggest year-over-year increase in this metric, (+2.4%)
  • Seattle was the fastest market, with half of all homes selling in 12 days or less, followed by Denver at 14 days. This was the first month since April 2014 that Denver was not the fastest market.

Inventory

  • For the second month in a row, Grand Rapids had the biggest drop in inventory, falling 48.8% year over year.
  • Seattle had record-low inventory in February with just 3,643 homes for sale in the metro region at the end of the month,  a 38.8% decline from last year.  
  • Seattle also had lowest months of supply in the country at 1.4, followed by Oakland (1.6), Portland, OR (1.8) and Denver (1.9).

You can download metro-level data from the February Market Tracker in an Excel Spreadsheet. and see Redfin’s data center to find out what’s happening in other regions.
For additional local analysis, see: Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

Median Sale Price

Redfin Metro Median Sale Price Month-Over-Month Year-Over-Year
Akron, OH $115,000 9.5% 17.1%
Albany, NY $176,000 0.6% 0.6%
Allentown, PA $163,950 -2.6% 7.2%
Atlanta, GA $190,000 4.4% 5.6%
Austin, TX $270,000 3.8% 8.0%
Baltimore, MD $225,000 2.7% 2.2%
Boston, MA $303,937 -7.9% -1.5%
Buffalo, NY $119,110 0.9% 8.3%
Charleston, SC $237,950 6.5% 8.2%
Charlotte, NC $189,000 1.9% 1.6%
Chicago, IL $185,000 -2.6% 8.8%
Cincinnati, OH $134,850 4.5% 7.9%
Cleveland, OH $105,000 -0.9% 16.7%
Columbus, OH $159,250 3.4% 6.6%
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX $219,000 6.9% 9.5%
Denver, CO $329,000 3.5% 10.8%
Detroit-Warren, MI $113,950 -6.2% 13.9%
Fort Lauderdale, FL $207,000 7.4% 10.1%
Fresno, CA $209,000 -0.5% 1.2%
Grand Rapids, MI $140,000 1.8% 12.9%
Greenville, SC $170,000 0.6% 6.2%
Hampton Roads, VA $197,950 1.6% -1.0%
Honolulu, HI $525,000 1.9% 11.3%
Houston, TX $201,745 0.4% 1.4%
Hudson Valley, NY $375,000 -3.8% 0.0%
Indianapolis, IN $138,000 2.2% 3.0%
Jacksonville, FL $168,250 2.0% 4.5%
Las Vegas, NV $202,562 1.3% 7.2%
Little Rock, AR $145,000 1.4% -0.7%
Long Island, NY $370,000 -1.3% 2.8%
Los Angeles, CA $495,500 0.1% 7.7%
Louisville, KY $144,500 -8.4% -0.3%
Memphis, TN $138,000 7.0% -3.3%
Miami, FL $242,000 0.8% 13.1%
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN $205,000 -4.6% 3.7%
Nashville, TN $229,000 -3.8% 10.6%
New Orleans, LA $181,000 1.7% 4.5%
North Port, FL $224,000 -2.6% 11.0%
Oakland, CA $553,000 -1.2% 10.6%
Omaha, NE $160,000 1.5% 7.2%
Orange County, CA $585,000 -2.3% 3.5%
Orlando, FL $185,000 1.2% 12.1%
Philadelphia, PA $210,000 -4.5% 7.7%
Phoenix, AZ $216,875 1.3% 8.4%
Portland, OR $305,000 2.3% 11.7%
Providence, RI $195,000 1.2% 12.1%
Raleigh-Durham, NC $223,900 0.4% 10.0%
Richmond, VA $194,900 -2.1% 1.8%
Riverside-San Bernardino, CA $300,000 1.7% 5.3%
Rochester, NY $112,950 -2.2% -1.8%
Sacramento, CA $319,000 2.6% 4.6%
San Antonio, TX $190,000 2.7% 1.1%
San Diego, CA $468,000 -1.5% 6.4%
San Francisco, CA $1,069,000 11.4% 9.6%
San Jose, CA $810,500 5.9% 2.5%
Seattle, WA $398,750 -0.3% 11.5%
St. Louis, MO $150,000 -1.0% 3.4%
Tacoma, WA $250,000 2.0% 6.4%
Tampa, FL $170,000 3.7% 17.2%
Tucson, AZ $171,500 -0.3% 0.9%
Tulsa, OK $144,700 3.4% 4.9%
Ventura County, CA $523,000 -2.2% 7.4%
Washington, DC $340,000 -1.2% -2.2%
West Palm Beach, FL $225,000 2.3% 15.4%
Wilmington, DE $190,000 -4.3% -2.9%
National $251,700 -1.2% 4.8%

Homes Sold

Redfin Metro Homes Sold Month-Over-Month Year-Over-Year
Akron, OH 516 2.0% 6.6%
Albany, NY 487 -20.6% 11.4%
Allentown, PA 460 -5.7% 24.7%
Atlanta, GA 6,389 17.4% 8.1%
Austin, TX 1,800 18.4% -1.0%
Baltimore, MD 2,271 5.8% 16.3%
Boston, MA 3,858 -17.2% 21.5%
Buffalo, NY 676 -10.2% 27.3%
Charleston, SC 1,005 15.8% 9.0%
Charlotte, NC 1,875 12.2% 7.3%
Chicago, IL 6,296 0.0% 6.4%
Cincinnati, OH 1,360 4.7% 2.8%
Cleveland, OH 1,585 5.0% 16.3%
Columbus, OH 1,384 4.5% 2.6%
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX 5,721 15.0% 8.4%
Denver, CO 2,944 4.0% 1.4%
Detroit-Warren, MI 4,296 2.2% 8.8%
Fort Lauderdale, FL 2,277 -2.1% -1.9%
Fresno, CA 584 4.5% 8.1%
Grand Rapids, MI 667 -2.6% -2.8%
Greenville, SC 550 14.8% 4.6%
Hampton Roads, VA 1,336 19.0% 17.5%
Honolulu, HI 550 2.0% 7.0%
Houston, TX 4,803 14.4% 9.1%
Hudson Valley, NY 857 -1.3% 22.8%
Indianapolis, IN 1,663 13.8% 0.9%
Jacksonville, FL 1,547 12.4% 6.0%
Las Vegas, NV 2,649 14.0% 9.7%
Little Rock, AR 579 12.9% -0.7%
Long Island, NY 1,737 -7.1% 22.0%
Los Angeles, CA 4,249 -4.5% 3.7%
Louisville, KY 925 15.0% 19.8%
Memphis, TN 739 15.6% 0.0%
Miami, FL 2,182 -4.2% -10.7%
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN 2,604 -6.7% 1.4%
Nashville, TN 2,008 4.5% 20.9%
New Orleans, LA 909 1.3% 4.5%
North Port, FL 1,319 6.5% -6.3%
Oakland, CA 1,446 -12.5% -2.4%
Omaha, NE 649 3.3% -1.5%
Orange County, CA 1,793 -1.8% 3.9%
Orlando, FL 2,755 10.7% -5.0%
Philadelphia, PA 2,726 -6.0% 11.5%
Phoenix, AZ 5,533 11.2% 0.3%
Portland, OR 2,214 -6.2% 3.0%
Providence, RI 673 4.2% 28.2%
Raleigh-Durham, NC 1,664 6.1% 7.4%
Richmond, VA 919 11.5% 7.5%
Riverside-San Bernardino, CA 3,418 0.4% 5.2%
Rochester, NY 630 -5.0% 18.6%
Sacramento, CA 1,884 8.8% -1.4%
San Antonio, TX 1,758 19.4% 5.0%
San Diego, CA 2,150 6.4% -5.6%
San Francisco, CA 672 0.1% -23.5%
San Jose, CA 751 -7.7% -32.3%
Seattle, WA 2,550 14.7% 0.8%
St. Louis, MO 1,750 1.2% 0.8%
Tacoma, WA 815 -1.7% 3.8%
Tampa, FL 3,994 19.5% 1.3%
Tucson, AZ 990 8.3% 10.9%
Tulsa, OK 814 18.5% 5.7%
Ventura County, CA 478 -1.4% 3.2%
Washington, DC 4,366 3.0% 6.6%
West Palm Beach, FL 2,028 3.3% -14.7%
Wilmington, DE 530 5.6% 25.0%
National 127,600 4.6% 4.8%

New Listings

Redfin Metro New Listings Month-Over-Month Year-Over-Year
Akron, OH 975 8.2% 10.0%
Albany, NY 1,108 11.4% 21.0%
Allentown, PA 1,085 8.2% 16.5%
Atlanta, GA 8,539 8.2% 6.2%
Austin, TX 3,023 18.8% 13.6%
Baltimore, MD 3,868 20.8% 9.2%
Boston, MA 6,815 16.0% 55.2%
Buffalo, NY 1,115 14.8% 21.9%
Charleston, SC 1,816 14.1% 13.7%
Chicago, IL 16,574 26.0% 18.3%
Cincinnati, OH 2,712 16.5% 10.6%
Cleveland, OH 2,900 14.7% 21.7%
Columbus, OH 2,264 17.4% 12.2%
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX 8,995 10.2% 19.3%
Denver, CO 4,097 11.7% 3.1%
Detroit-Warren, MI 7,067 -3.6% 11.8%
Fresno, CA 836 -6.0% -6.7%
Grand Rapids, MI 1,031 17.3% 8.8%
Greenville, SC 902 16.4% 3.1%
Hampton Roads, VA 2,878 1.4% 27.6%
Honolulu, HI 1,081 6.7% 6.5%
Houston, TX 10,108 6.8% 20.2%
Hudson Valley, NY 1,906 20.2% 29.6%
Indianapolis, IN 2,979 18.0% -0.1%
Jacksonville, FL 2,728 4.7% 8.8%
Las Vegas, NV 4,501 -1.5% 9.2%
Little Rock, AR 1,312 5.8% 13.7%
Long Island, NY 3,270 -3.3% 18.1%
Los Angeles, CA 8,864 6.9% 12.3%
Louisville, KY 1,417 9.7% 8.3%
Memphis, TN 1,365 16.6% 16.6%
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN 5,705 40.1% 1.6%
Nashville, TN 3,726 13.1% 26.3%
New Orleans, LA 1,737 5.8% 19.7%
North Port, FL 2,795 -0.6% 16.0%
Oakland, CA 2,518 30.3% -1.4%
Omaha, NE 1,199 7.0% 2.1%
Orange County, CA 3,728 18.3% 17.2%
Orlando, FL 4,560 3.9% 1.2%
Philadelphia, PA 5,583 19.2% 5.0%
Phoenix, AZ 10,058 -0.9% 13.1%
Portland, OR 3,559 14.0% -0.5%
Providence, RI 1,147 -1.5% 26.7%
Raleigh-Durham, NC 2,833 17.8% 15.0%
Richmond, VA 1,827 5.2% 12.2%
Riverside-San Bernardino, CA 7,423 4.0% 17.6%
Rochester, NY 1,372 6.7% 24.2%
San Antonio, TX 3,022 8.7% 12.8%
San Diego, CA 4,162 3.6% 4.1%
San Francisco, CA 1,309 26.1% -7.0%
San Jose, CA 1,457 37.8% 2.2%
Seattle, WA 3,783 15.1% -4.9%
St. Louis, MO 3,593 18.4% 8.8%
Tacoma, WA 1,258 15.8% 4.0%
Tampa, FL 6,537 4.7% 7.9%
Tucson, AZ 1,853 -12.1% 1.7%
Tulsa, OK 1,733 19.9% 13.9%
Ventura County, CA 922 6.3% 0.4%
Washington, DC 7,798 28.7% 3.3%
West Palm Beach, FL 4,481 -2.9% 11.1%
Wilmington, DE 908 4.8% 3.8%
National 220,700 10.8% 11.9%

All Homes for Sale

Redfin Metro All Homes for Sale Month-Over-Month Year-Over-Year
Akron, OH 3,105 0.8% -7.9%
Albany, NY 4,076 -3.3% -9.4%
Allentown, PA 4,519 1.5% -1.2%
Atlanta, GA 19,335 -5.3% -13.6%
Austin, TX 5,028 2.4% 0.6%
Baltimore, MD 10,605 -5.3% -11.6%
Boston, MA 15,735 -1.6% -2.2%
Buffalo, NY 5,086 -3.1% -24.7%
Charleston, SC 6,166 5.6% -2.3%
Chicago, IL 41,775 16.0% 9.9%
Cincinnati, OH 9,240 7.3% 0.1%
Cleveland, OH 9,874 1.8% -4.7%
Columbus, OH 6,086 21.1% 9.9%
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX 14,016 4.6% 2.9%
Denver, CO 5,636 14.4% 35.4%
Detroit-Warren, MI 15,724 -8.4% -8.4%
Fresno, CA 1,737 -9.6% -14.4%
Grand Rapids, MI 2,066 -7.3% -48.8%
Greenville, SC 2,984 13.1% 2.0%
Hampton Roads, VA 8,436 0.4% -4.5%
Honolulu, HI 3,515 6.9% -0.7%
Houston, TX 22,349 1.6% 25.5%
Hudson Valley, NY 8,354 17.3% 33.7%
Indianapolis, IN 8,165 -3.2% -31.1%
Jacksonville, FL 7,422 0.5% -13.1%
Las Vegas, NV 14,566 3.8% -2.5%
Little Rock, AR 4,294 9.2% -4.0%
Long Island, NY 12,950 0.3% -7.9%
Los Angeles, CA 15,289 9.8% -0.7%
Louisville, KY 3,210 -4.7% -38.6%
Memphis, TN 4,194 5.2% -3.7%
Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN 10,928 6.2% -16.1%
Nashville, TN 8,000 3.7% -8.8%
North Port, FL 8,026 10.7% 11.1%
Oakland, CA 2,271 12.9% -14.1%
Omaha, NE 2,116 -3.2% -17.9%
Orange County, CA 6,864 23.1% 19.2%
Orlando, FL 11,873 -0.8% -14.5%
Philadelphia, PA 17,947 0.5% -9.9%
Phoenix, AZ 23,855 11.1% 5.0%
Portland, OR 4,072 -6.9% -37.4%
Providence, RI 3,722 -4.7% -0.4%
Raleigh-Durham, NC 7,538 15.6% 7.8%
Richmond, VA 3,905 -3.3% -15.6%
Riverside-San Bernardino, CA 17,883 8.5% 13.6%
San Antonio, TX 7,066 1.1% 10.0%
San Diego, CA 5,984 0.7% -15.6%
San Francisco, CA 1,828 19.9% 0.1%
San Jose, CA 1,936 23.2% -3.0%
Seattle, WA 3,643 -4.6% -38.8%
St. Louis, MO 9,085 2.8% -11.2%
Tacoma, WA 1,875 -12.5% -39.8%
Tampa, FL 16,261 5.0% -10.1%
Tucson, AZ 5,776 13.4% 3.0%
Tulsa, OK 5,771 1.9% -1.5%
Ventura County, CA 1,515 2.2% -10.9%
Washington, DC 15,180 -2.7% -8.6%
West Palm Beach, FL 14,191 11.4% 12.8%
Wilmington, DE 3,429 -0.5% -4.5%
National 518,100 4.1% -3.7%

For more information, contact Redfin journalist services
Phone: 206-588-6863
Email: press@redfin.com
To be added to Redfin’s press release distribution list, subscribe here.

Avatar

Troy Martin

Troy analyzes real estate trends for Redfin’s research team. He previously worked as a consultant on data validation and visualization for the World Bank, an economist for the Bureau of Economic Analysis and an analyst at the Center for Labor Market Studies.

Email Troy

Be the first to see the latest real estate news:

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By submitting your email you agree to Redfin’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Scroll to Top